There is a cold wind blowing this morning... But yet there is something warm moving this way.

Hmmm, what could it be...

Maybe its an adorable puppy?

No, that's not it. I already have one of those, not to mention a great help to me when I'm working on my bike, always ready to make a tool run with her dad. Good girl Izzy. 

Maybe the little wife just ordered me a new 2015 Lamborghini for a late birthday present. 

Ok I just threw that one in for giggles. Not going to happen...

Then what could it be...

Now I remember, the good people at MOTORCYCLEHOUSE asked me to do a review on a couple of products that are on their way to my house as we speak. I'll admit I have never heard of the site before, but IF their products are legit, I'm sure it will become one of my new shopping grounds for everything motorcycle. Their prices are hard to beat, as I snoop around  the site. Click on the motorcycle house link above and check them out. 

Just so you will know I was told to give a honest review of their products, and that my friends is just what I plan to do. Oh yea for you haters out there, yea I know I'm still in my T-shirt in my thumbs up photo, started writing early this morning, got a busy day today. 

Get ready, the products and the review to come soon.

Till next time

Big Al

HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, HOW ABOUT THE 250 DOLLAR BOLT.

Yep its been awhile, again??? Trying my best to get back to blogger. I just think I needed the time away from the blog. Had a couple of quick stories I wanted to share… 

First story, went by Hattiesburg Cycle to get an oil change on my V-Star 1100

As luck would have it the deanship was having Indian motorcycle test rides. 

So after dropping off my bike I quickly put my name on the list to ride the 2014 Indian Chieftain

I got to admit I had never really consider buying and Indian mainly due to the price compared to the Harley and Victory, both about $ 4000 dollars cheaper than the Indian. Well wow how quick my mind can be changed, 

the Indian road like a dream with power to spare. Loved almost everything about it. Damn nice ride.

Ok story two…
My poor little V-Star needed a much needed oil change and new front tire. Well being being the good father I am I was going to change the oil myself (Ok I'm cheap). This is where the 250 dollar bolt comes in, well all I can say is I tried for four long days everything I could think of to get that possessed oil drain bolt out… 

I mean everything, from screaming at it, using a jack to move the wrench, beating it with a hammer and taking very nicely to it. The bolt just would not move, so I took it to the dealership… Long story short, the dealership had the same problem (I have to admit this gave me some small satisfaction)

 Well satisfaction, until i got the bill for the oil change… 

Yep you guessed it 250 DOLLAR OIL CHANGE and yes they got the bolt out with some drilling and a blow torch. Hmmm that Indian is looking better and better.

Till next time
Big Al

I'M BACK

I'm back, its been a long time...LONG time since my last post. Hopefully I'll be getting post out on a regular bases. Got a few new toys since my last post, new iMac computer and a Go-Pro Camera Black Edition.   It should make blogging a lot more fun. 

I’ve been spending a lot of my free time in the gym lately 

but the weather is warm now and time to dust off the old bike and get some rides in

and of course video taping and snapping photos along the way. I’ve done a complete remodel of the Compound (story soon) not to mention I’ve been to a bunch of Diner, Drive-in and Dives, yes lots of photos of all of them and stories to follow. 

That being said, stay tuned till next time.

BIG AL

Pinky’s Passion Motorcycle Magazine is here!

As Navin R. Johnson would say…

The new Pinky’s Passion Motorcycle Magazine is here! The new Pinky’s Passion Motorcycle Magazine is here! Page 19 - Big Al !

I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.

Click the link below, if you want to see me reaction when I got the  new magazine out of the mailbox yesterday...Steve Martin does it better. ha-ha

Steve Martin...In The Jerk
Three cheers for Mary Gang Baker (Pinky) for issue 2 of Pinky’s Passion Motorcycle Magazine, not sure how she did it but I think she outdid the first issue and that issue was great!!


Tech reviews…wow!


Ride reviews…great!!


Local reviews…outstanding!!!


Sunny daze on going story…marvelous!!!!

Restaurant Review… wonderful, amazing, stunning, spectacular, excellent, awe-inspiring, splendid, fabulous, cool, groovy, superb, breathtaking, fantastic, remarkable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It just so happen the food review was on one of my favorite places to eat
DARWELL'S CAFE
in Long beach, MS. Not to mention the review must have been written by a poet as the story flowed like a hot knife through butter…who was this great story teller anyway? IT WAS ME, THAT'S WHO!!! All the D’s I use to get in English class back in high school finely paid off. Ha-ha.

Ok all joking aside, my writing skill is more like a third grader on crack…all over the place. Ha-ha. Anyway it was an honor to have my story picked up by such a great magazine. Who knows maybe I’ll make issue 3…ok I know, now I’m just dreaming.

Time to do some surfing, on the web that is…you can pick up the latest copy of Pinky’s Passion Motorcycle Magazine at
PINKY'S MOTORCYCLE PASSION
 and don’t forget to tell her Big Al sent you.

One more thing, join Pinky at her magazine launch party, see below.

Camp Joy Marina, Saturday April 14th noon till close (new magazine launch)

Everyone get off you couch and get there, remember the date April 14th, sounds like a great time for all…I plan on bringing my crew (ok it's just going to be my wife Signe and me, but crew sounds more Bad Ass. Ha-ha.)

Till next time
Big Al

Saturday October 22, 2011 (part 2)

Well as I said before the sky was blue, the temperature was in the mid 60’s and the ride was going great only around 50 miles left to my destination. I was cruising along this long and lonely Hwy. 425 when all of a sudden the Arkansas state line sign was upon me.

 Being the blogger that I am, I made the quick decision to pull over in a church parking lot to get a photo. This proved to be a costly mistake; here is why. Well what looked like an asphalt parking lot from the road turned out to be a gravel parking lot with very loose gravel.

As my bike front wheel exited from the highway there was a small lip from the roadway to the parking lot, this caused the front tire to pull quickly to the right, yep you guessed it right into the loose gravel (oh did I mention I was in the middle of hard breaking and still doing around 40 mph) well needless to say that was all she wrote…the bike and I went down with a great THUD!!!

Next thing I know as I’m laying on my back a big dully truck pulls up beside me with a high school kid driving it asking if I needed any help. Turned out to be a great kid, I told him I was alright as I picked my bike up and he went on down the road. I got to admit my first thought was as I hit the ground, am I dead, then I went through a body check,

the thick leather jacket I was wearing saved my upper body, my lower body took on most of the damage. My jeans were still intact but I could feel the blood running down my legs from my knees. All in all I walked away with very little damage, my left knee was scraped and my left elbow was hurting…oh who am I kidding my whole left side felt like someone had worked me over with a bat.

 Ha-ha. Then this thought hit me as I watched the dully truck tail light fade out of site. Would my bike crank? The answer you ask…yes it did after many, many tries. Well as my leather jacket saved me, the crash bars on my bike saved it, the bar on the left side of my bike was now covering my shifter,

so with a lot of kicking and screaming I was able to bend the bar far enough from my shifter that my foot could reach it again to shift gears, so down the hwy I went to the small town “Star City”.

I was the first to reach the Star City Inn;

Walter had not made it yet. I was the only car in the parking lot, not a bad place just no one there…it’s in the middle of nowhere.


About the time I walked back to unload my bike, my buddy Walter pulled up on his Honda.

I told him my sad story, he laugh and called me names…what are friends for, RIGHT?


After he checked in we cleaned up a little and decided to go and get some pizza at a local pizza shop "Mike's Pizza Pro". I think this was the only place in town open on a Saturday night and just like the Inn we were the only customers in the place. Truth is known I think we were the only people who had ever been inside; the employees looked at us like we were from outer space. We ended up ordering a large cheeseburger pizza and an order of bread sticks (pretty darn good)

and my buddy Walter picked up the tab, I think he was feeling sorry for me by now. Ha-ha.


We sat around and swapped war stories and the good time we had in the past for at least an hour and a half. We did a lot of catching up and I was telling him how I had had this bike for over a little over three years now and had never dropped it once until today…I feel a little more foreshadowing coming on.


Time to head back to the room, it was starting to get cold and neither one of us brought our jacket with up as the pizza place was only a couple of blocks down the road. Well my friends never say never; as we pulled back into the Inn (two cars there now) I pulled my bike into one of the numerous parking spots under a big light pole started turning it around so I could back it in to the spot…for some reason still unknown to me this day, in mid turn I grabbed the front break…

yep you guessed it, down to the ground I went, with a huge THUD!!!

This time on my right side, I have to admit I just laid there for a few seconds just wondering what the heck just happened, so once again in the same DAY mind you, I picked my bike up again.


After that it was bed time, I checked out my injures mainly just burses and scratches on both knees now. Funny thing is when I fell the second time (IN THE SAME DAY) I ended up hurting my right knee, it was getting hard to walk, go figure, crash at 40 mph and just walk away, crash at a near stop and injure my knee.

As I was sleeping I was awakened around 4:30am to a loud crashing sound…my first thought was it was someone loading my bike into the back of a pickup but my leg was hurting so I did not get out of bed to see…then seconds later I heard another crash, then I thought they got the second one! I could not take it anymore I hobbled to my feet and shuffled to the window only to find out it was thunder and it was now raining….

The next morning after what had to be the worse continental breakfast,

it was decided due to my knee pain, it would be best to cut the ride short and head home with my tail between my legs…we made a quick stop at McDonalds for lunch said our goodbyes and we were on our way home, me to Petal, MS and Walter to Huntsville, Alabama.


Just as I was around 15 miles from home still nursing a sore knee, I see this crazy man in front of me with his arm out the window of his truck telling me to come around him on the hwy. I got to admit this did not make me happy as I just wanted to get home and off my crippled bike. As I passed the truck who do Isee non-other than Matt (the hammer) Roland looking at me. We pulled over I told him the sad story… he laugh and called me names…what are friends for, RIGHT? Got to get better friends. Ha-ha.


Come to find out he was on his way home from a mountain bike race where he took second place; he even posed for a photo, trophy in hand. (Camera hog)

said our goodbyes and I was home my 5:00pm come to find out my buddy Walter did not get home till 9:00pm. OUCH!!!


GOOD NEWS; my knee has healed itself, except for the scrapes, I'm ready for my hiking trip next week…thank GOD its not in Arkansas.


Till next time


Big Al

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Morning everyone, time to tell the story of the great Arkansas motorcycle road trip,

Let me go back in time a few days a do a little foreshadowing (big word, see I got book smarts)


Our original plan was to leave around 12:00pm Friday and meet up in a small town in Arkansas called Pine Bluffs. Here is a link of the trip…
RIDE MAP
 
Well as you might have guessed it did not happen…AS PLANNED!!



I guess around Tuesday I came down with a bad cold we had been passing around the office, I ended up getting a fever and missing Wednesday at work.

I sent my ridding buddy Walter an email and told him we might need to move the ride to Saturday due to illness. About this time, Walter had sent me an email saying that the town we had picked for our first night was ranked as one of the highest crime spots in Arkansas,

not good when you are ridding easy to steal motorcycles. So a new location was picked, Star City was the new destination. Woke up Thursday feeling better…RIDE BACK ON AS PLANNED!!! Well so I thought, I was packed and ready to go Friday morning,

and then I get a text message from Walter telling me he had come down with something and asked could we move the ride to Saturday morning. (See lots of foreshadowing)


Woke up Saturday ready to go, I had around a 300 mile ride ahead of me, my buddy Walter around 400 mile ride. I decided at the last second that I would like to get a new full face helmet (due to the cold weather),

so a quick trip to Hattiesburg Cycle would be needed on my way out of town. (I’ll do a review on the helmet in a post soon)

I guess I was on my way around 10:30am.


The ride started out beautiful, I have to admit I spent the first hour or so fiddling with my new helmet, pushing and pulling buttons trying to figure out how to raise and lower the shield while ridding. Once I entered into Louisiana, I really started getting into the ride; I crossed through huge cotton farms in the middle of picking. I did run into one small shower, not even enough to get my jacket wet, lasted less than a minute, then sky’s turned bright blue again. Oh yea this is what ridding is all about…then came the ARKANSAS STATE LINE SIGN………

Check back soon, the best is yet to come.


Big Al

Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives…Oh MY!!! ...Singleton’s Seafood Shack…Jacksonville FL

Well as you read in my last post, we were in Daytona for bike week and decided to try out another Dive, so off to Jacksonville we went. We took hwy 1A instead of the interstate due to hwy 1A runs right along side the beach (must ride for bikers…beautiful). Now I know we were in beautiful, Sunny Florida BUT it was cold this morning and the ride was somewhere around 80 miles, so needless to say we had quite the chill by the time we pulled into... 
Singleton's Seafood Shack

We were a little early somewhere around 11:00am so there were only a few cars in the parking lot, we had the only motorcycles.

The Shack was just like I had imagined, right on the water,

with the smell of salt in the air, my kind of place. As you walked up on the small front deck it had an old wooden cable reel turned on it side for a table with old boats in the background.

Once in the door we were greeted as we walked by a table covered in ice with the fresh catch of the day laid out for all to see…fresh seafood, you can’t get much fresher than that.

We were seated  by a large windows right on the water, the outside deck was being remodeled but I have to admit I was happy to be inside where it was warm, we had a bad case of the chills. Soon we were greeted by our waitress, what a sweetheart…we order our food with a side order of coffee;

she even went to the trouble to make my buddy Dave a pot of decaff. Service, service…we were expecting a couple of small cups, but to our surprise out came to extra large cups,

a welcome site to cold bikers.

Now that the coffee had done its job and warmed us up I had a chance to look around a little while waiting on lunch. The place was decorated in a nautical theme, fitting since the shack is sitting only feet from the water.

Then out came the food, it was lunch so we had both decided on po-boys…the waitress suggested that we split an order of fries the po-boys came dressed with shoe-string onion rings that were so deep on top of the po-boy that honestly you could not even see the sandwich.

Once I ate my way through the rings there it was in all it glory, lightly batter fresh, fresh shrimp on top of most excellent bread. Once I was able to squeeze the sandwich together, I had my first bite…heaven, true heaven. Man, that po-boy was good bite after bite, it’s the kind of food that truly makes you shed a tear once it gone…sniff, sniff.


Well the meal was over, we left a generous tip (well dissevered tip I might add) and headed to the counter to pay our bill, they sold many different kinds of hot sauce; I snapped a photo of my favorite.

Disturbing...Ha-ha.

Normally this would be the end of my story but once in the parking lot we noticed our two motorcycles had multiplied into four and a new story begins.

We as I was saying it was a little cold that day so we were unpacking our bags to get our warm gear on and this guy came out of the shack and walked over to us. He started tell us a story of how he and his buddy had just ridden from Daytona to eat at the shack, here comes the cool part, he reaches into his saddle bag and pulls out the book “Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives”

and starts telling me how he plans on going around to all the TV shows Dives and writing about them. I could tell he almost fell out when I told him I had been doing the same thing. Ha-ha. Small world.


Well we said our farewell to our new friends and off we went on our 500 mile ride back home, we did catch a ferry

(no not that kind of ferry. Ha-ha) an automotive ferry

about a block from the shack, a perfect ended to a perfect meal. Three cheers for Singleton’s Seafood Shack!!!


I got to say this place gave my # 1 Diner pick "Darwell’s of LongBeach Ms"
DARWELL'S
A run for the money, I give The Shack five stars all the way around, so if you are looking for a place to eat on the water, with great seafood, service, and just a great laid back atmosphere, then Singleton’s Seafood Shack is the place for you!!! Tell them Big Al sent you…they want have a clue who I am…but tell them anyway. Ha-ha.


Till next time


Big Al